ANZAC Long Weekend

ANZAC = Australia-New Zealand Army Corps

For the long ANZAC Day (similar to Veteran's Day) 3-day weekend we headed out west to the old gold mining town of Hill End which is about 3 hours from Denman.

We had just finished setting up our camper trailer late on Saturday afternoon (just in time) to see the skies open up and "piss" down rain. By the next morning we discovered that we had received 1.5" of precip over night!
Wet, wet, wet!

Fortunately thanks to Ben's quick thinking and trenching skills we kept things relatively dry or at least less muddy around our trailer! Of course those in tents below us were drenched completely and vacated the campground at dawn.

Weather.......it's all part of the adventure!

Sunday started out grey and dismal but by noon the sun decided to intermittently break through the clouds - just in time for the ANZAC service in the center of town.

With deciduous trees scattered everywhere around town the signs of autumn were absolutely brilliant and made me wonder if this is how Maine looks in October. Hmmmm? One day I hope to find out first hand. In 1851, gold was discovered at Hill End, then known as Bald Hill, and by 1872, at the height of the great gold rush, the town was the largest inland settlement in NSW (New South Wales) with a population of 10,000 and a kilometre (2/3rds of a mile) of colourful shopfronts, including 28 pubs, an opium den and an oyster bar!

Gold occurs in quartz veins generally parallel to the bedding in a sequence of slate and sandstone. So, what's a trip to a gold mining town without a mine tour?

Below is the entrance to the Bald Hill Mine nicknamed the "Born Loser" .
Even though gold was expected to be found at this site none was ever discovered.

Sounds like alot of diggin' for nothin'!

At the end of our tour by Glen, the Hill End resident hippie, guests were invited to ascend the 10-story latter up through a series of narrow mine shafts. I chickened out but Ben went as our family representative and photographer.

Don't slip now because it's a long way down that small hole!

Gold mining activity gradually dwindled, until there were only a few hundred miners left by the 1920s to pick over the former diggings. An old abandoned mine shaft in the bush that was shown to us by a hobby fossicker (one who rummages or searches around, especially for a possible profit) that was on our mine tour. We were lucky this one was covered over with logs because there are many left open so hiking around in this area could be very hazardous to your health!

Gold was first discovered in the Hill End area at Golden Gully in 1851.
All that remains today of these old "diggings" is an eroded dry creek bed.

Camper Benjo at Golden Gully

Now, with only a small resident population of approximately 100 people living in Hill End, there still remains echoes of the past among the old builings and homesteads. I felt like I had stepped back in time as I strolled through the streets of this once bustling gold mining community.

Grazing sheep

Warry Cottage

Old popper head

Old homestead

Church

Post Office

Courthouse

Another old church

Old Produce Store

Last pub standing from the original 28!

Resident kangaroo on the lookout

At last, the sun is finally shining!

Fall On the Vine - photo taken at a pub in Rylston where we stopped for lunch

Riverwood Downs

We made a quick overnight camping trip with the Lewis Clan over the weekend as a reconnoissance mission ("reccy") to the Riverwood Downs Resort at the base of the Barrington Tops National Park. Recent rains have made the scenery come alive as the hillsides transformed into a beautiful rolling carpet of green. The mild temperatures were also a welcomed change as Fall finally starts to set in. Yipee! Out drive to our destination was absolutely picture perfect!

Resort guests can either stay in the 4-star accommodations (questionable) on-site or camp along the river. Regardless of your sleeping arrangements, the area has much to offer. Adam, Nick & Maddi did the white-water adventure and went caneoing. There was also hiking, biking, horseback riding, tennis, ping pong, platapus viewing, fishing and much, much more. Reminds me of what a "dude ranch" might be like.


Nick and Maddi oversee camp set-up operations.

Campsite is ready so it's time to feed the hungry troops!

Maddi and Ness take a break and do a little reading in the sunshine.

Next on the 'to do' list for Adam was to get straight into the preparation of his campoven beef stew called "Boondooma Beef".

As I continue to learn more about "outback" cooking with a camp (dutch) oven I decided to try my hand at making an apple cobbler. Instead of cooking over the coals of a campfire this time we used "Heat Beads" (charcoal briquettes). I can clearly see there is an art to this style of cooking and I have a long way to go but the fruits (apple in this case) of my labor seem to have been a success on this attempt!

Adam and I think we should team up for the outback version on "My Kitchen Rules"!

I saw my first brushtail possum that night hanging around in the bushes next to our campsite along the river. Way cool! Maddi lured him in closer with a few crusts of bread but did I think to grab the camera for a nature photo....No! They were so cute and looked just like the picture above. Sweet!

Benjo tends to the bacon and breakfast sausages over the new "camp oven mate" while Ness & Ad make toast and prepare the tomatoes for grilling. I really don't go much on the grilled tomatoes for breakfast, but I guess it no different than pouring ketchup all over your scrambles eggs or maybe it it's just because I'm not a real Aussie, yet.

All in all it was a great little getaway. The general consensus of the group was that the location was probably worth a return trip someday but we still have many more places yet to explore and experience.

Homeward bound - happy trails!

Hot Crossed Buns and the Easter Bunny

Today was Easter and if you didn't know it was Autumn in Oz you would would think it felt just like springtime in California. We've had a perfect day and Ben and I received a special visit from the Easter bunny this morning bearing fresh hot crossed buns (plain with raisins and also with chocolate chips - yummo) from the bakery and a tower of chocolates! I baked a batch of scones this morning so we had them hot out of the oven with fresh cream and strawberry jam along with the buns for morning tea. The day was so beautiful we decided to enjoy our Easter treats out on the back patio with our special visiting bunnies (Bob and Cheryl).